HOW will Britain’s vote to leave the EU affect Scotland’s thriving conferencing and events sector? Many venues insist it is ‘business as usual’ and are continuing to invest in their offering.

“Whilst there has been plenty of discussion and speculation about the impact of Brexit on the conference market in Scotland, as yet we are still to see any tangible impact,” says Paul Bray, general manager at the four star Westerwood Hotel & Golf Resort in Cumbernauld.

“Maybe it’s still a little too soon.

“Our view is that whilst one door may close, another one will open – and it is up to us to identify these new opportunities and be involved.”

The 148-bedroom hotel, which has an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Seve Ballesteros and Dave Thomas, is conducting a review of its key industry sectors to mitigate any potential risks from a Brexit-related slowdown.

“Some conference organisers have quoted Brexit to allow them more time to make final decisions relating to their conferences,” Bray adds.

“But on the other hand, it has generated new enquiries for companies that are needing to re-set their own strategies following the result.”

The hotel has seven conference and meeting rooms holding up to 400 delegates and specialises in residential conferences.

Westerwood was used as an exclusive use event during the Ryder Cup and was designated a ‘Games Family Hotel’ during the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

“Throughout the year, we accommodate thousands of conferences and events including product launches, training events, security conferences and association annual meetings,” Bray says, adding that the hotel continually invests in its product.

As part of a £500,000 investment, the Westerwood is refurbishing and extending its spa.

It has also invested £250,000 in a new state-of-the-art gym and £60,000 in upgrading its wi-fi.

Ayrshire’s Trump Turnberry resort was reopened in June after a multi-million pound refurbishment, including improvements to the championship Ailsa golf course – which has hosted four Open Championships – and a renovation of the hotel building, function spaces and bedrooms.

The resort has 11 meeting spaces, including The Crystal Ballroom, The Caledonia Ballroom and The Ailsa Craig Suite, and can cater for small boardroom meetings to large-scale exhibitions and gala dinners for up to 500 people.

Turnberry has also just unveiled its newest meeting space, The Donald J Trump Ballroom, which has a capacity for 500 and features chandeliers and floor to ceiling windows overlooking the golf course.

“Since the reopening, we’ve welcomed two back-to-back, exclusive use buy-outs in June for large UK-based corporate meetings,” explains Gillian McNeilly

director of sales at Trump Turnberry. “One included an off-site dinner, facilitated by Trump Turnberry, at Cloncaird Castle, with whom we have an exclusive relationship.”

The resort works in partnership with a selection of local castles, including Culzean Castle and Blairquhan Castle, that can be built into a client itinerary.

The day after Britain voted to leave the EU, Donald Trump hit the headlines with his arrival in Turnberry and remarks that the vote was a “great thing”.

For McNeilly, Scotland’s global connectivity – including Turnberry’s proximity to Prestwick Airport – and more favourable exchange rates for tourists, are opportunities for the industry.

“Scotland has great international access generally, with flights from global destinations such as New York and Dubai, flying into both Edinburgh and Glasgow,” she says.

“The strength of the exchange rate is favourable and should encourage international clients to bring events to the UK.”

VisitScotland estimates that business tourism is worth around £1.9bn a year to Scotland’s economy. The nation’s academic credentials are particularly appealing to large association conferences.

“Just this year, Glasgow announced it has won the International Conference on Science, Technology, and Synthetic Materials to be held in 2020, which expects to generate £2m for the local economy,” says Neil Brownlee, head of business events at VisitScotland.

“The continued success has been in no small part to the huge investment by our partners, including multi-million projects at prestigious venues such as Gleneagles, Trump Turnberry, and Fairmont, St Andrews.”

VisitScotland’s National Conference Bid Fund, which helps destinations attract high-yielding events, has also helped attract £300m of events since it was set up in 2012.

On Brexit, Brownlee says it is too early to know the full impact.

“It is very much business as usual,” he says.

“Europe is an important international meetings, incentives, conferences, and events market for VisitScotland.

“We will continue to work closely with our partners and stakeholders to ensure all types of business events and their delegates from around the world continue to come to Scotland to enjoy its vibrant cities, spectacular landscapes, its rich heritage – and the warm welcome of its people.”

Dundee and Angus Convention Bureau reflects this sentiment and agrees it is premature to make any predictions about the impact of the EU referendum.

“Business tourism has always had a long lead time with major conferences being booked up to five years ahead, so our pipeline of events is currently very healthy,” says the bureau’s business tourism manager, Karen Tocher.

“Our international delegate numbers are continuing to increase, as is the number of countries of origin for delegates.

“These delegates are global travellers and they travel for the importance to their professional development of the conference they’re attending – and the opportunities these events give them to extend their networks.

“This is unlikely to change.”

In June alone, the bureau welcomed delegates from 18 countries for The Young Microbiologists Conference, 32 countries for the 9th International Concrete Conference and 15 countries for the EUROCleftNet Research Conference.

The £1bn transformation of Dundee’s waterfront – which will include the V&A Museum of Design Dundee – is the third largest regeneration project in the UK and is contributing to a step-change in the city’s confidence, Tocher says.

Work is also continuing on the redevelopment of Dundee railway station, while new hotel arrivals include a 105-bed Hampton by Hilton, with flexible meeting space for 50 delegates.

Dundee’s Caird Hall, built between 1914 and 1923 by jute baron Sir James Caird, hosted the city’s largest ever international academic conference last year, with more than 600 delegates from 56 countries attending the International Society for Addiction Medicine Congress.

“Providing facilities for exhibitions, 45 workshops, 250 presentations and ten keynote lectures was a challenge, but one we were able to achieve,” says Susan Gillan, Caird Hall manager. “Although we’re well known as a music and performance venue, Caird Hall is an increasingly attractive conference and exhibition proposition for event organisers because we’re able to host up to 2,000 seated delegates.”

Recent events have included the STUC annual congress, the annual 1,800-strong gathering of the Church of Scotland Guild and 900 guests at the MG Alba Scots Trad Music Awards.

On Brexit, Gillan says: “Whether any impact on our business will be anything more than negligible depends on the deal which is struck between the UK and Europe on our exit.”

The Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre campus in Glasgow can host events for between 12 and 12,000 people and is celebrating its strongest year to date for conference and corporate events business.

The campus – which includes the distinctive ’armadillo’ of the Clyde Auditorium conference facility and the new live entertainment arena, The SSE Hydro – hosted 57 conferences and corporate events during 2015/16.

This included 31 national, European and international association conferences and 26 corporate meetings and events.

Among these were the European Association of International Education Congress; the European Stroke Organisation Conference and the International Conference of the Association for Medical Education in Europe, which collectively accounted for more than 10,000 delegates.

“The SECC is the key driver for attracting international conferences to the city and we were proud to stage 17 international meetings in 2015, which accounted for almost 80 per cent of the overseas delegates coming to Glasgow,” says Kathleen Warden, SECC’s director of conference sales.

“Glasgow is becoming more accessible than ever before.

There has been significant growth in the number of airline routes coming in to the city in recent years – 26 in last year alone – making Glasgow now the fifth fastest growing airport of its size in Europe.”

Warden believes Scotland and Glasgow will continue to be very popular destinations in world terms.

“If we can bring something to the table that continues to be an attractive option, we believe the market will still come,” she says. But she acknowledges: “We are going through a period of unprecedented turbulence and the economic situation may be challenging for the next couple of years.”

Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation (ECCI) in Edinburgh’s Old Town is the UK’s most sustainably designed historic building and describes itself as the ‘go to’ place for sustainability focused events and meetings in Scotland.

Built in the 18th century as Edinburgh’s Old High School, the site started life as a 13th century monastery, famously turning up the murdered body of Mary Queen of Scots’ husband, Lord Darnley, in its ruins 300 years later.

ECCI is now part of the University of Edinburgh’s estate and offers a range of conferencing spaces, smaller meeting rooms and a modern atrium that can support functions of up 280 people.

The venue hosts around 1,000 people a month attending meetings, conferences and events with a focus on creating a low carbon economy.

“Hosting an event at our centre sends a clear message to delegates on the importance your organisation places on the environment and sustainability issues,” explains ECCI executive director Andy Kerr.

“We attract a wide range of high-profile events and attendees from the UK and overseas, including becoming the base for Fringe Central, hosting the Edinburgh International Science Festival, The British Council, BBC, Shell Springboard Awards, and the Saltire Awards.”

The worry with Brexit is how it could affect funding streams.

“We are concerned about longer-term funding prospects,” Kerr says.

“We anticipate that EU funding streams will be open to us for at least the next couple of years, but there is huge uncertainty thereafter.

“We value very highly our collaboration with European partners and will do everything we can, no matter what our future relationship is with the EU, to continue those strong links.”

Dundas Castle at South Queensferry dates back to the 15th century and was bought in 1899 by Scots thread baron Stewart Clark.

His great grandson, Sir Jack Stewart-Clark, and his wife Lydia have been lovingly restoring the castle since the late 1990s and now run it as a five-star exclusive use venue for weddings and events.

General manager Louise Andrew says Dundas Castle is currently witnessing an increase in international groups, both from business tourism and private leisure.

“Last year corporate business from North American groups was greater than in any previous year and we are seeing some of these clients return to Dundas,” she adds.

“The year ahead is already strong, again for international groups from North America and Europe. We would now hope to see some Middle Eastern groups confirm, as this is a key target market for us.”

A significant investment for Dundas in 2015 was a new biomass boiler.

This heats the castle and the Auld Keep, as well as underlining the castle’s sustainability credentials.

“The lure of a beautiful Scottish castle in a countryside setting, yet so close to an international airport, is always going to be attractive to visitors,” she says.

In focus: The Golden Jubilee Conference Hotel

The Golden Jubilee Conference Hotel in Clydebank near Glasgow is the only hotel and conference venue wholly owned by the NHS.

Medicine and healthcare are key target markets, with unique services including two-way audio-visual live links from the Jubilee’s auditorium to imaging suites, cardiac catheterisation laboratories and operating theatres.

The venue’s largest room, the Auditorium, can hold up to 250 delegates, though there often more than 400 delegates on site for lunch, making use of all 14 areas in the conference hotel.

“This has been a really interesting year, with a diverse range of clients including groups of clinicians from China,” says director Bronagh Bell.

“While they were staying at the conference hotel, we even had our chefs prepare special menus based on their own cuisine.

“This is something that can be important to overseas clients and we are happy to go the extra mile to create a home from home experience, while still offering some tempting Scottish classics from locally sourced, fresh, produce and ingredients.”

Bell feels it is probably too early to tell how Brexit will impact the industry and adds: “With exchange rates in their favour, it does make Scotland a good value destination for the international meetings, incentives, conferences and events market.”